belcher



0. T. BELCHER. AEROPLANE CONSTRUCTION. APPLICATION FILED AUG. 26. 1918.

1,8 1 1,205 Patented July 29,1919.

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0.5230714 Z'fielckerr ATTORNEY.

O. T. BELCHER. AEHOPLANE CONSTRUCTION. APPLICATION FILED AUG.26. 191s.

Patented July 29, 1919."

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 Q INVENTOR. 3 0.5/72 0724' rfieZafieff ATTORNEY.

'6 and State I lifting principles of my invention.

, tional detail on'theline 8-8 of Fig.2.

'osmo'nnr. antenna; or Los memes, cenmoama.

' .AEBOPLANE consraucnon.

Toall whom it may concern.

Beit known that I, OSMOND T. BELoImR, a citizen'of'theUnited States, residing at Los Angeles in the'county of Los Angeles 1 California, have invented new and. useful Improvements struction, ofwhich the followin fication. o

My invention relates. .struction, and consists of herein shown, described g is a specithenovel features and claimed. An dbJect of my inventionis to make a Another object of my -invention is to make a covering for lifting planes, ae'ro-.

plane bodies, and the like, which may be fabricated by machinery from wood, sheet metal and the like, and which will be very strongand reliable and at the same time very-light. Y I

Anotherobject ofv my invention is to "m' e an aeroplane construction involving a covering which may be'rapidly manufactiured, easily applied, and used with confi- Figure 1 aside elevation of an aeroplane constructed in accordance with the Fig. .2 is a top plan, view of the indicated by the arrow 2 in-Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a verticalcross-section upon an enlarged scale, and taken'on the line 3- 3 ofFig.-2. I

-Fig'. 4 is an enlargedfragmentary sec- U tional detail on the line 4+4, of Fig. 2.

F1g. 5 .is an enlarged fragmentary sec tional detail on theline 5-5 of Fig. 2. Fig. .6 is an enlarged fragmentary secltionaldetail on'the line 6- 6 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 7 is an enlarged agmentary-sectional detail on theline 757' of Fig. 2.

Fig. 8 is an: enlarged fragmentary sec- Figs. 4, 5, 6', and 7 might be upon-the same plane as Fig. 3, the parts being greatly f on arged iand necessarily broken awayto economize space, and Fig. 8 is on. a plane'at right an of j ' Specification of Letters mtent. v Application filed august as, 1918. Serial no. 251,;

ing-taken'in the direction in in Aeroplane Conto aeroplane conplane or the-like very rigid and. eificlifn t, and without the of ribs, or

' lifting plane 2, the

of the aeroplane shown in Fig. 1 may be the principles of 14,- and the corrugated filler 1 5.

I 3, 4, 5,- 6, and-7 and longitudina of the supporting spars, andcro'sswise' ofth'e line travel. 'j f Fig. 9 isan enlarged fragmentary plan of Patented July as, was.

the fabricated wooden covering,

icated by the arrow 9 in Fig. 10.

Fig. 12 is a cross section through the body the line 12-12 drawn to show of the aeroplane and taken on of Fig. 1.-' The view being the fabricated covering of the body, the

other parts being omitted.

the view be- Fig.-10 is a sectional detail on "the line The main lifting plane 1, the secondary I body 3, and other parts made in accordance with my aeroplane construction.

The main lifting plane 1 is of the desired width from the front edge 4 to the rearedge 5, and oi the desired length from the side edge 6 to the side edge 7. The main spars 9 and 10. extend in parallel'positions crosswise of the line of travel, and from the edge 6 to the edge 7, the lifting plane being about six times as long as 'tis wide, and the length being crosswise of the .line of travel. The fabricated covering 11 is applied to the of the spars 9 and 10 and a'similar fabrivcated covering 12 is applied to the bottoms lifting plane, and taken looking in the direction of thev spars. The fabricated covering 11 consists of the upper wall 13, the lower wall the upper wall 13 consists of wooden splints 16, 17,18, and 19 preferably of spruce, the splints are shaved .very thin like veneering,

tops

As shown,

and splints are out about an inch wide, and

woven together so that one-half of the grain of the wood, runs at right angles of the other one half of the grain of the wood, and the weave is made as tight as possible so that.

there are nospaces between the edges of the splints. In a. like manner the wall 14 consists of similar splints 19', 20, 21, and 22. 'As the splints are woven glue is applied,

1 y and the section of the wall is passed between are cross sections, and

rollers to press the parts firmly together, and to make the walls flat and .run through a .corrugating machine to produce even rounded corrugations 23 and 24.

size, and

glue is applied to'the apexes 25, and '26 of he corrugations, then the walls The walls 13 and 14 arecut to the desired is placed in a corrugation 24, between the. strips 27 and 28, and against the wall 13,

and as the strips are applied glue is applied to make a suitable foundation for inserting screws 30 downwardly through the wall 13,

through the strip 29 and through the wall 14 into the spar 9. In a similar manner spacing strips 31, 32, and 33 .are applied in position to come along the center of the upper face of the spar 10 and' the screws 34 .are inserted downwardly through the strip 33 into the spar 10. Small pins 35 are inserted through the fabricated covering, preferably at the alternate corners of the squares formed by the weave.

In alike manner the lower fabricated eovering'12 consists of the upper wall 35, the lower wall 36 and the filler 37, the walls 35 and 36 being formed of splints WOVGII' together the same as the walls 13 and14 and spacing strips 38, 39 and 40 are-applied. in place to extend along the center of the lower face of the spar 9 and the screws 41 are inserted through the spacing strip 40 into the spar. 1 Spacing strips 42, 43, and 44 are placed in pos'ition'to come along the center of the lower face of the spar 10, and screws 45 are inserted through the strips 44 into the spar.

The spars 9 and 10 are of suitable shape in cross section to form the desired shape of lifting plane 1, and the coverings 1L and 12 are curved to produce this desired shape. The edges of the coverings 1-1 and 12 are brought together all the way around that is along the edges 4 and 5, and along the edges 6 and 7, and the corners are rounded, and a continuous binding 46 is applied all the way around to hold the edges together.

The details of the binding 46 are asfollows: A piece, of suitable wood is formed with a slot 47 extending from its inner face 48 thereby producing flanges 49 and 50 and the outer face 51 is rounded. The edges of the covering 111 and 12 are brought together so that the tongues 49 and 50 fit under the wall 13 and over the wall 36, and the edges of the corrugated fillers 15 and 37 and the edges of the walls 14 and 35 fit in the slot The stick of wood is built up to extend all the way around the lifting plane, and the outer faces 52 and 53 are cut away slightly, so that the walls 13 and 36 will be flush with the face 54, then a metal binding casing 55 is applied to cover surface '51- and overlap the edges of the inch thick, and

'ing

' upper covering,- and when supporting a load,

are firmly set ness of the'covering may the rounded the wall 13,. 14,35 and 36, so that when the work is finished the plane has a smooth c'o'ntinuous outer edge all the way around. In order to bring the coverings 11 .and 12 together atthe edges 6 and 7 the spars 9 and 10 are tapered to a point as shown in Fig. 8. In the construction of the supporting plane, waterproof glue should, .be used whereever glue is required, and. then the entire work should be well varnished.

The splints forming the walls 13, 14, 35, and 36' are preferably out about .017 of an the corrugated, fillers 15 and 37 are out about .020 thick. Of course, these thicknesses may be varied slightly. The spar 9 is somewhat higher in cross section than the spar 10, and the spar 9 is placed nearer to the front edge 4, thereby spacing the coverings 11 and 12 wider apart, just behind the front edge, and from this spar 9the coverings continue backwardly with a constantly decreasing distance between. The spar 10 is located a short distance back of the center. The spacof the coverings 11 and 12 apart sufiiciently, as shown, makes substantially a. truss formation, the upper covering serving as a brace for the lower covering, and the lower covering serving as a brace for the the upper covering 11 is arched upwardly from its edges, and the lower covering 12 serves as ties to hold the edges down, and prevent crumpling.

Instead of the rivets or pins 35 and 56, a good linen thread may be used. The splint fabric forming the wall of the covering is preferably a plain square weave, and the fabric may be of any hard substance, such as wood, sheet steel, and the like. The fabric walls of the coverings are spaced apart by the corrugated fillers, and whenthe parts with rubber cement or waterproof glue, one fabric braces the other, and makes a very stiff cover. The grain of the wood in the corrugated fillers runs crosswfise of the corrugations, and these fillers maybe of any stiff, hard material, such as wood and sheet steel. Of course, the stifibe increased by 115 increasing the space for-med by the corrugated fillers. As before stated the corrugated fillers preferably are not woven sheets, but are single thicknesses of veneer.

In Fig. 12 I have shown a cross section 120 of the body 3, this cross section being a circle formed by the covering prepared and built up in the same way as the coverings 11 and 12.

The planes 2 may be constructed in the 12% same way and this fabricated covering may be used any placethat a stiff wall is desired, and is especially intended to take the place of the linen coverings heretofore and now in use. The coverings are especially adapted 13t wood, with the for the lifting planes, lizers, the elevators, aeroplane.

ing comprising the, body, the stabiand the wings of an Various changes may be made without departing from the spirit of my invention as claimed.

I claim:

1. In an'aeroplane construction, a covering comprising a corrugated filler of hard material, and walls of hard material secured to the faces of the filler.

In an aeroplane construction, a covera corrugated filler of hard materialyand fabricated walls of hard material secured to the faces of the filler.

3. In an aeroplane construction, a corrugated filler of wood, and wallsfabricated of wood, and glued to the faces of the filler.

4, In an aeroplane construction, a corrugated filler formed from a sheet-of thin grain of the wood running crosswise of the filler, and fabricated walls' splints woven together formed of wooden and glued to the faces of the filler.

5. In an aeroplane construction a lifting plane comprising a plurality of spars, and coverings secured to the upper. and lower faces of the spars, each of said coverings comprising a corrugated filler, and walls Secured to the faces of the filler. v

'6. In an aeroplane construction, a lifting plane comprising a plurality of spars, coverings secured to thempper and lower faces of the spars, each of said coverings comprising a corrugated filler and Walls secured to the faces of the filler, and a binding securing the edges of the c0verings together all the way around,

In testimony whereof I name to this specification.

osMoND 'r. BELOHER:

have signed my 

